"Into My Arms" is a song written by Nick Cave, and released as the first single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' tenth studio album '' The Boatman's Call'' in 1997. The single, released on 27 January 1997, was pressed on 7" vinyl, as well as a standard CD single. A promotional music video for the song was also recorded.

Background and history

The song takes the form of a love ballad, with a piano and an electric bass as the sole instruments used. Music journalist and critic Toby Creswell included "Into My Arms" in his book '' 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them'', in which he attributed the song's melancholic lyrics to the break-up of Cave's long-term relationship with Viviane Carneiro and his subsequent brief relationship and break-up with English musician PJ Harvey.Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

, 2009. In Cave's lecture "The Secret Life of the Love Song" to the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

, he counts the song among those he is most proud of having written. Cave said he wrote the song in rehab: "I was actually walking back from church through the fields, and the tune came into my head, and when I got back to the facility I sat down at the cranky old piano and wrote the melody and chords, then went up to the dormitory, sat on my bed and wrote those lyrics." Cave performed the song at the funeral of his friend, INXS singer

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...

, but requested the cameras recording the service be switched off as he performed.

Reception

The song was also nominated for Single of the Year at the 1997 ARIA Awards, and came No. 18 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year. It was No. 84 in the 1998 Hottest 100 of All Time, and No. 36 in the 2009 Hottest 100 of All Time.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was directed by British director

Jonathan Glazer Jonathan Glazer (born 26 March 1965) is an English film director and screenwriter. Born in London, Glazer began his career in theatre before transitioning into film. Over the course of a career spanning nearly three decades, Glazer's directing ...

. In an interview on the DVD ''The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer'', Nick Cave praised the video as well-produced, but said he considered it a poor fit with the song as the video's depressing imagery overrode the melancholic optimism Cave had intended the song to convey.

Track listings

UK CD single (Mute Records, CD MUTE 192) #"Into My Arms" – 4:15 #"Little Empty Boat" – 4:25 #"Right Now I'm A-Roaming" – 4:21 UK 7-inch single (Mute Records, MUTE 192) #"Into My Arms" – 4:15 #"Little Empty Boat" – 4:25

Charts

Certifications

Cover versions

"Into My Arms" was also recorded by Ane Brun and

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

. In 2012, American artist Eliza Rickman included a cover on her second album, ''O, You Sinners''. In 2017,

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

and

Allison Moorer Allison Moorer (born June 21, 1972) is an American singer/songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, “A Soft Place To Fall,” which she co-wr ...

also recorded the song for their album '' Not Dark Yet''. It has also been covered by Band of Horses. In 2021, American psychedelic rock band

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (k ...

and singer Nell Smith released ''Where the Viaduct Looms'', a collaborative album of Nick Cave covers that included a rendition of "Into My Arms." In 2022, the interdisciplinary artist

Hayden Dunham Hayden Frances Dunham (born June 16, 1988) is a performance artist, designer, singer, songwriter and DJ. They grew up in Austin, Texas and attended the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU. They are best known for their work as QT (a ...

released a cover of the song, under their Hyd moniker.

Other appearances in popular media

"Into My Arms" featured in the films ''

Zero Effect ''Zero Effect'' is a 1998 American mystery comedy film written and directed by Jake Kasdan in his feature directional debut. Starring Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and Ben Stiller as his assistant Steve Arlo, ...

'' (1998), the television film '' On the Beach'' (2000), '' He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' (2001), '' Gettin' Square'' (2003), and '' About Time'' (2013). It has also appeared in '' The L Word'' episode "Luck, Next Time", series 4, episode 7 of British teen drama '' Skins'', series 1, episode 5 of the Australian detective show '' City Homicide'', John Patrick Shanley's 2012 play ''Storefront Church'' and series 1, episode 8 of '' The Mist''. The song is also the closing track of the 2017 Paddy Considine film ''

Journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

''. The song is also used in the 2015 BBC series ''

Uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal rela ...

'' at the end of the fifth episode of season two as well as appearing in the third episode of the Ricky Gervais 2019 Netflix series '' After Life''. The song is also used as a trans-diegetic sound in the 2019 TV series ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...

''. "Into My Arms" also appears in the closing credits of the Australian TV series Mr Inbetween (season 3 episode 6).

References

External links

Nick Cave performs Into My Arms
''BBC Four Sessions'' ( iPlayer) {{Authority control Nick Cave songs 1997 singles Music videos directed by Jonathan Glazer Mute Records singles Rock ballads Songs written by Nick Cave